


Scintilla

by Drabbles_Of_Writing



Series: Four Years AU [3]
Category: The Owl House (Cartoon)
Genre: Cliffhangers, Dottie and Roselle have human versions, Fear of Death, Four Years AU, Hopeful Ending, Hurt No Comfort, I'm being nice here, Light Angst, Luz does not show up but she's mentioned so I'm tagging her anyway, Other, also they are lesbians, but it's not true don't worry, it's been four years, mention of child death, theres no comfort but theres HOPE, yes I make the rules
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:55:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26197477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Drabbles_Of_Writing/pseuds/Drabbles_Of_Writing
Summary: Camilia swore she saw something flicker among the trees. The optimistic side of her wondered if that could be Luz.The stronger, pessimistic side said that after four years, it was unlikely she'd finally made it home.
Series: Four Years AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1902241
Comments: 23
Kudos: 513





	Scintilla

Camilia opened the door to her home, her feet dragging on the floor.

There had been a  _ lot _ of patients at the hospital today, and she was  _ exhausted. _

She paused at the entrance and felt around for the switch. She flicked on the front porch light before stepping inside and shutting the door.

She didn’t need to turn on that light, but it had become routine. It made her feel safer. Knowing that on the off chance that Luz came by, she’d see the light left on for her.

_ ‘It’s been four years,’ _ Whispered a tired part of her mind.  _ ‘How long are you going to do this?’ _

Camila flopped onto the couch with a groan, far too tired to make it much further inside. She flipped on the lamp by the couch, but aside from that and the porch light, her house was completely dark.

She hated coming home.

Four years ago, when she’d come home late like this, she’d find Luz waiting for her. She’d scold her daughter and tell her she should be in bed. Luz would protest and say she wanted to make sure she made it home.

Camilia would sigh, ruffle her hair, and thank her. Then she’d tell her to head to bed before she tucked in herself.

The house felt far too quiet now. Far too  _ empty. _

Her work friends had started saying she should move. Find a smaller, cheaper house. There were too many painful memories at her house now.

Camilia would always shake her head and say she couldn’t. What if Luz came home and she wasn’t there?

Her friends would then look at each other and tell her to think about it.

They thought Luz was dead.

And Camilia couldn’t blame them.

A fourteen year old girl up and vanishing on her way to a shady summer camp? What are the odds she’s survived after four years? There was no ransom, no clues,  _ nothing. _

The camp might be closed but the wounds were still there.

Her one solace were her two elderly neighbors, Dottie and Roselle. They were a bit crazy, what with their house full of cats, but they were kind. Luz loved visiting their cats and playing with them in the garden when she was younger. They were both distraught when they heard of her disappearance.

They supported Camilia in her endeavours. Though recently, nowadays they’d only smile when she’d bring up Luz.

“There’s always hope,” Roselle would say simply. “And that’s better than nothing, isn’t it?”

They weren’t confident in her return, either.

Camilia had become very aware of the time left for Luz to return. In three years, she’d likely be pronounced legally dead. And Camilia wasn’t ready for the police to start officially searching for a dead body.

Though she figured many of them already were.

For years, Camilia wondered if it was her fault. She never should’ve sent Luz on that bus. Another part of her wondered if Luz really had run away.

But where would a fourteen year old run to? Luz was naive, but she wasn’t stupid. Far from it. She wouldn’t have picked up any horrendous jobs that old men off the street would offer her. Could she have fled the state? Wound up in an orphanage? Integrated with a different family?

Did she hate her own mother that much?

_ ‘Wouldn’t be a big surprise,” _ Her thoughts hissed.  _ ‘She must’ve thought you hated her. Hated how she acted.’ _

Camila had tried every police force she knew. Ones nearby and closer to the camp. Many had dwindled back after only a week. And after barely a few months, barely anyone talked about Luz’s disappearance.

After all, who cares about a weird lonely latina girl going missing?

Camila pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, taking off her glasses. She couldn’t think like this now. Couldn’t fall back into wallowing in her misery. It had taken long enough to get herself out of it in the first place.

She owned Dottie and Roselle a lot for helping her out of that one.

Camila slowly stood up, her joints protesting. She should probably have dinner. But she was way too tired to make anything now.

Almost on a whim, she glanced on the window by the couch.

She blinked and lifted her head. Camilia squinted her eyes and put her glasses back on.

Off in the distance, somewhere among the tree, she swore she saw a flicker of light.

The more she stared, the more positive she was. A light was flickering in and out somewhere in the forest. It wasn’t getting closer or further away, just staying there, hovering.

_ ‘Luz?’ _ Her optimistic side wondered.

_ ‘Oh come on,’ _ Her pessimism stamped it down.  _ ‘It must be some teenagers goofing off. _ ’

The point was that there was something in those woods. And Camilia was never one to let things slide like they never happened.

Her first thought was to call the police. But if it ended up being nothing, they’d just be more annoyed with her than they already were with her insistent calling every month to see if there was anything on her daughter.

Camilia quickly rummaged through her drawers and pulled out her pepper spray. And as an extra measure, grabbed one of the knives from the kitchen and made sure her phone was recording from her pocket.

Maybe it was overkill to some, but she wasn’t taking any chances.

She opened the front door and stepped back, illuminated in the porch light as she gazed towards the woods.

The woods was one of the few places Luz didn’t adventure in, as Camilia strictly forbade it. She already caused enough trouble everywhere else, she didn’t want to know what happened in the forest.

And here she was, hurrying towards a mysterious light coming from said forest.

Camilia stopped at the edge of the trees, fiddling with the peppery spray in her pocket. She glanced back towards her house light one last time before making her way through the trees.

As Camilia walked closer, she found she could hear something as well.

It was distorted and strange, like the cutting out dialogue of a glitching tv.

At first it just sounded like crashing and breaking, and it was faint. Camilia kept her knife in front of her as she wound through the trees before finding an open path and following it.

Then, among the distorted crashing, she heard a voice.

_ “Stay back!” _

Camilia froze for a moment.

Then she picked up the pace.

Camilia could hear distorted shouts and threats along with the chaos, and increasingly she grew worried. Was someone being mugged? Maybe she  _ should _ call the--

The path ended. And standing in front of her was a small, broken, run-down house.

Camilia blinked at it, surprised. The police had combed the woods when Luz first vanished, and they had mentioned an old building, but it didn’t look like anyone had used it for decades.

A light flashed from the broken windows.

“Don’t you dare!” The same voice from before shouted. “You can’t--!”

Whoevers voice was cut off as the light flickered, dying out for a moment before spiking up again.

“Hello?” Camilia called, holding out her knife as she approached the house. “I’m calling the police!” She warned, pulling her phone out of her pocket and stopping the video, instead getting ready to type in 911.

Whoever was in the house didn’t respond, and the light became less frequent as it flickered in and out.

“...hello?” Camilia called again, slowly walking up the steps. “Is everything alright in--”

Blinding.

The house erupted in a bright, blinding light. Camilia shouted and dropped her knife and almost her phone as she covered her eyes, taking a step back.

Accompanying the light was a  _ scream. _ A horrifying, sickening scream.

Then, just as suddenly as it arrived, the light and scream vanished in a snap.

Camilia blinked, lowering her hands and blinking her eyes.

The only other sound's were the wind blowing through the trees.

Camilia swallowed and inched over to one of the broken windows, momentarily forgetting her knife as she peered in.

Nothing.

There wasn’t a single thing in the house. Not even any furniture. 

“What?” Camilia whispered.

She picked up the knife again and opened the door, walking in as she tapped the call button on her phone.

As the phone rang, Camilia looked around in confusion.

That was, until, she looked down.

In the center of the floor was a massive scorch mark. Accompanying it were scratch marks, both human and animalistic. The claw marks were longer than her arm.

The scorch mark was very,  _ very _ fresh. She could still see bits of ember on the wood.

_ “Nine one-one,” _ The operator picked up.  _ “What’s your emergency?” _

Camilia slowly lifted the phone to her ear, never taking her eyes off the floor.

“I’d like to report suspicious activity,” She said. “I think...I think someones been attacked.”

God, she hoped her pessimism was right.

**Author's Note:**

> Scintilla (n); a tiny, brilliant flash; a small thing; a barely visible trait
> 
> Wonder what's happening in the Boiling Isles, huh?


End file.
